Friday, April 26, 2013

Feed Camels, Giraffes, Goats & Zebra @ Emirates Park Zoo, Abu Dhabi

want to have a giraffe extend its long neck to munch leaves from your outreached hand? dare to feel camels’ tongue on your fingers? look at a the beautiful monochromatic zebra literally face to face? stand few inches from a hungry monkey? pat a baby goat?

head on to ‘emirates park zoo’ where you and your kids can experience all that!

emirates park zoo is in 12th street, al rahba city, abu dhabi. comparatively small for a zoo, but the zoo’s pretty brick walls painted in patterns of giraffes and zebras are hard to miss.

my favorite shot of that day : khaleef was feeding the giraffe when he poked his head so far inside the seating area – that khaleef can almost pet his neck. amazing!

been living in UAE for almost 5 years now, it’s a shocker that we’ve never even heard of this place before! this is ‘emirates park zoo’ in abu dhabi; a quaint little place that combines zoo and resort. yeap, this is also the first time I came across a place where you can stay a night inside a zoo!

hmm. imagine the smell! haha.

but I must say, emirates park zoo abu dhabi is actually one clean zoo, free from foul smell, and even from the entrance you can see how pretty the place is. hihi.

entrance ticket is aed25 for adult, and aed10 for kids. now this sounds pretty reasonably cheap in my opinion – considering it’s abu dhabi/dubai – however, the catch is you need to pay an extra aed15 to watch a seal show once inside. what? I’ll tell you more when we get to the seal show!

kahfi goofying around

granted it’s a significantly smaller zoo than al-ain zoo abu dhabi, it has its gems. the most wonderful thing about emirates park zoo is that, we get to feed the animals at close quarters. monkeys, goats, sheep, giraffe, zebra, camels – like, really close till the camels can actually extend its-head-and-grab-your-cap-from-your-head-kind off close!

better watch your young ones!

the fact that it’s a smaller zoo actually makes it easier for parents to have a walkabout with their children – the kids won’t get too tired too soon, and still get to see a lot of different animals in a short span of time.

also, despite emirates park zoo being small, they do have other significant animals like the tiger, hyenas, meerkats, kangaroos, and all sorts of reptiles and amphibians.

right at the entrance, a staff awaits at a table full of bunches of tied up leaves – aed5 a bunch. we bought two bunches which is just nice to be fed to all the animals that we were about to see.

we went to emirates park zoo very early in the morning since we’re starting out from dubai. it was a great idea because the zoo was completely ours for that morning! haha. it was serene, it was peaceful – albeit the noises from monkeys calling for breakfast!

empty zoo! all ours! it only gets more and more crowded by the time we were about to go home.

* * *

feeding the animals was really fun, and educational too – not just for kids, but for us parents as well! never have we come so close to these animals, especially the camels, giraffes and zebra – it’s amazing!

my boys were able to look at the animals closely, study their behaviour, sounds and movement in that brief encounter between man and beast. quite an experience for the boys.

this is the closest ever I’ve gotten to a camel. the boys were completely excited. all this while they have been spotting camels along the road when we drive in the highway. they are really gentle creatures, quietly munching away.

see! what did I tell ya – the camels extending his head to take a bite!

then there are the goats and sheep. there’s this one big black sheep that keeps banging the metal fence, greedily demanding to be fed – gotta watch out for that one, mommies! the kids (baby goats) are the most adorable!

owh, there’s such an overwhelming feeling when you’re face to face with a giraffe. it’s the tallest existing mammal currently walking on the face of the earth – possibly as tall as a medium-sized dinosaur. amazing when you think about it.

this is the seating area right smack next to where the giraffes and the zebras are. there’s a small kiosk there that sells snacks and drinks, and we can enjoy them as we watch the animals roam the field. there’s no fence, no glass windows – the giraffes could just peek their head into the seating area to see what you’re having for picnic at the zoo! opps!

this is really the first time ever in my whole life, being THIS close, and face to face with a zebra. have you ever really looked at a zebra? it’s SO lovely. it has black and white stripes on its body. we know that from books and watching from afar, but have you REALLY looked? this monochromatic animal is such a sight. beautiful!

membuatkan aku nak pi cari tudung belang-belang hitam putih!

yes, the kids get to feed the fish too! buy the fish food for aed 2 a packet. of course they were on the lookout for the most popular fish among kids – the clown fish aka nemo!

* * *

like I mention earlier, emirates park zoo abu dhabi is also a resort – offering rooms for those animal-nuts; nuts enough to spend the night amidst birds cooing, monkey-lovin and goats chattering away.

emirates park zoo is wheelchair-friendly with ramps everywhere. very accessible for mommies with strollers too, definitely!

the washroom for female in emirates park zoo is at the fish area. clean. fresh smelling. important! I think the male washroom is at the amphibian area. buaya betoi! haha

emirates park zoo is not only clean, but also offers a lot of comfortable seating areas to rest or eat.

another seating area right by the bird area. again, clean and no bad smell. such tranquility when you hang out over here amidst chirping and cooing of birds.

the bird area – mostly flamingos and peacocks – flightless birds

a really gorgeous – but very garang bird!

the area where we can see the seal show. everyone needs to sit on the stone stairs on the right, and the show takes place right in the middle of the area.

alright here we are – the seal show.

remember aed25 entrance fee to the zoo is cheap, right? well, you gotta pay an extra aed15 to watch the seal show. yeap. any other zoo would offer multiple shows, complimentary! with the ticket price! there would be bird show, seal show, even dolphin show or elephant ride even!

the seal show IS cute though, and entertaining. it’s just not worth an extra aed15 just to watch one seal show, for less than 30mins.

oh well – it’s your call.

* * *

apart from being a zoo AND a resort, emirates park zoo also has this small corner for kids to try out wall-climbing, for a small fee. super cool! this is the first time khaleef tried wall-climbing and although slightly nervous, he was eager to try.

khaleef in action!

that weekend at emirates park zoo is an unforgettable memory for my boys. kahfi had his arm licked by a camel, khaleef was literally side by side barely inches from a giraffe’s face, and kazim was just screaming in excitement all the way.

I’d highly recommend this place for you folks out there with young kids. it would be an awesome experience! visit the emirates park zoo abu dhabi official website for more information. click here.